Jewel

This summer female pop stars are clearing out space for themselves, and the season’s usual sea of masculinity is parting. The debut CD by Alaskan pop-folkie Jewel, Pieces of You (Atlantic), has sold more than 5 million copies and is still riding high on the charts. Erykah Badu, with her poetry-slam soulfulness, has sold more than 1 million copies of her brilliant new CD Baduizm (Kedar Entertainment/Universal) and is a headliner on this summer’s neo-soul Smokin’ Grooves Tour. And Canadian singer-songwriter Sarah McLachlan has masterminded the summer’s most talked-about musical event: Lilith Fair, a traveling show featuring a rotating lineup of 61 female singer-songwriters, including Cassandra Wilson, Tracy Chapman, Fiona Apple, Paula Cole, Jewel and McLachlan herself. There’s a different melody in the air: macho is out; empathy is in. “People want to be given hope,” says Atlantic Records senior vice president Ron Shapiro, “and these female artists are giving young people a life preserver.”